QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MxnsriciPio — brajstd 



151 



(Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.) Swingle). Actually, in 

 Spanish usage, the trees are referred to in the masculine 

 gender (ending in - o or -ero; limero in the case of the 

 lime), and the fruit is placed in the feminine gender; 

 e. g., naranjo is orange tree and naranja is orange fruit. 

 Xhe juice of limes and lemons is much used to flavor 

 soups as well as in drinks. 



Oranges, 104 trees of naranjos the majority of which are 

 sweet oranges {Citrus sinensis Osbeck). Probably 

 there are not more than six or eight sour oranges or 

 naranjos agrios (sometimes incorrectly called naranjo 

 lima and limdn ■pilaio) which belong to the species 

 Citrus aurantium L. The sweet orange is the leading 

 citrus fruit consumed in Quiroga, but most of the fruit 

 is brought in from as far away as Nuevo Le6n. The 

 main season for gathering is November to January. 



Lemons, 68 trees of limones, limones agrios, etc. (Citrus 

 limonia Osbeck). 



Citrons, 11 trees of cidras, limones reales, cedros limones, 

 etc. {Citrus medica L.). Also, there are 6 naranjos 

 limas, 6 limones pilatos, and 1 limdn romano, which are 

 variants or hybrids of some of the above species; and 

 3 toronjas or shaddocks {Citrus grandis Osbeck), and 

 one mandarino {Citrus nobilis Lour.) The yiaranjo lima 

 and limdn dulce are sometimes placed in the species 

 Citrus lumia Risso. 



The remainder of the introduced fruits are very 

 poorly represented and are not important, either 

 in the economy or in the diet of the people, with 

 the partial exception of the fig. These other fruits 

 include: 



Fig, the tree of which is higuera and the fruit higo {Ficus 

 carica L.). These are principally black figs which ripen 

 from June to November, and chiefly in August and 

 September. There are 160 trees. 



Apricot, chabacano, albaricoque, or damasco {Prunus armen- 

 iaca L.). There are 120 apricot trees. The crop matures 

 from April to July. 



Loquat, known in IMichoacan as nlspero {Eriobotrya japonica 

 (Thunb.) Lindl.). The term nlspero is applied to the 

 medlar in some areas, and is also used for some native 

 tropical fruits. There are only 81 trees to provide this 

 prized fruit in November, December, and January. 



Quince, membrillo {Cydonia oblonga Mill.). The fruit of 

 the 69 quince trees is sometimes eaten raw, stewed, or 

 converted into a liqueur, but most of it is made into a 

 packaged preserve known as cajeta de membrillo or 

 ale de membrillo. Most of the Michoaciin ates are made 

 in Morelia from fruits purchased in northern Michoa- 

 cdn. One of the leading ate manufacturers of Morelia 

 is married to a native of Quiroga and owns the site of a 

 former rum factory where there is a scattering of fruit 

 trees. Quinces are gathered July to October. 



Pear, the tree of which is a peral and the fruit a pera 

 {Pyrus communis L.). The bergamot pear predominates 

 among the 66 trees. July to September is the harvest 

 period. 



Apple, the tree is manzano and the fruit is marizana {Pyrus 

 Malus L.). In Mexico a distinction is made between 



apples for eating raw (the finest large red apples are 

 often called manzanas de California, because so many 

 are imported from western United States) and a rather 

 poor kitchen or cooking variety known as perdn. In 

 Quiroga there were 29 manzano trees (including a few 

 de California), and 27 perones. Apples are gathered 

 July to December. 

 Pomegranate, granado or granado cordelino {Punica grana- 

 tum L.). The fruits of the 31 pomegranates mature 

 June to September. This fruit, granada, is not to be 

 confused with the granada de china or granadilla (of 

 which there are three vines in Quiroga) which is a 

 Passiflora native to South America despite one of its 

 names. 



The restricted number of cultivated grapes, 

 mulberries, plums, wahiuts, cherries, olives, etc., 

 does not justify a discussion of them. It is 

 notorious that the Spaniards throughout the 

 colonial period attempted by laws and other 

 means to prohibit or discourage the planting of 

 plants that would compete with peninsular 

 interests, especially grapes and oHves. The 

 paucity of bananas, date palms, and coffee trees 

 is due to unfavorable climatic conditions, and the 

 climate also explains the absence of the popular 

 Old World mango. There are four clumps of 

 sugarcane, which are not doing well. 



ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



Although the Tarascans had a number of domes- 

 ticated and semidomesticated animals (princi- 

 pally the dog and the turkey) animal husbandry 

 in Michoacan cannot be said to have begun 

 before the introduction of browsing pack and 

 draft animals. Horses, European dogs, and 

 pigs came with the first Spaniards in 1522. 

 By 1530 horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens 

 were being raised in the Patzcuaro Basin and the 

 lands north to Huaniqueo. Throughout the early 

 colonial period the raising of horses and cattle 

 remained in the hands of the whites because (1) 

 both were costly to acquu'e, (2) cattle required 

 considerable pasture and water and also were 

 injurious to the crops planted by the Indians, and 

 (3) an Indian might not own or ride a horse with- 

 out special permission from the Government. The 

 Indians took somewhat to the raising of sheep, 

 and more so to pigs; but it was the chicken which 

 became the most common and important intro- 

 duced animal among the Indians. In part this 

 was because they were already accustomed to 

 poultry raising from their possession of turkeys, 

 but probably a more important factor was the 



